I have a love/hate relationship with the RM-Z and it all revolves around the stiffness of the chassis and how it can beat me up. I tried everything with the 2016 to get it to go away through tuning the suspension and it just didn’t work. That will teach me not to go to Glen Helen at 2 PM on a crowded practice day. But on my first laps early at Milestone the bike was magical. Here the bikes goes where you point it and the chassis stiffness is just working for you.
The motor just plain does work and is easy to ride and fast too. I like the spread of power and the delivery with the stock plug installed. I wouldn’t change anything.
But the real issue with the RM-Z is if you ride it back-to-back with some of the other bikes. All of the competition has raised the bar and even as good as the Suzuki is if you only rode it, things come to light. You feel it is a little heavier. The clutch pull is stiffer. Bump transmission back to the rider is high. These are things that can’t be tuned away easily so in the end you’ll just have to live with them. In a world of smooth tracks the RM-Z would rule. That is a dream world.